NZ On Air to share Dirty Laundry

NZ On Air’s first funding round of the new financial year has put $20.3 million into drama. The country’s biggest drama producer, South Pacific Pictures, has a second season of Outrageous Fortune prequel confirmed. The show will expand from six to 10 episodes next year.

Antonia Prebble and David de Lautour return for seconds

Outrageous Fortune co-creator Rachel Lang again teams with Gavin Strawhan and Steve Zanoski for new series Dirty Laundry, about a middle-class family whose mother is jailed for money laundering. The trio also have Filthy Rich in production.

Just as the 2014 crop of Sunday Theatre titles are about to air, two dramatised docos have Platinum Fund support for next year. Screentime’s Bombshell – The Sinking Of The Rainbow Warrior tells the story of the French government’s botched act of terrorism in Auckland harbour. Lippy Pictures has Jean, about the life and times of Jean Batten, star of the skies and a 1990s Weetbix kids ad.

This year’s crop of Sunday Theatre presentations has Making Movies’ Abandoned and three Screentime productions, How To Murder Your Wife, The Monster of Mangatiti and Venus and Mars.

“We are very impressed by the calibre of drama applications – this genre is alive and well,” she continued. “This is a significant investment in drama yet funds remain for future projects. We acknowledge recent discussion about a new soap. We have not yet received a funding application for this: it may come to us for assessment in the coming months along with other projects in development and potential returning series.”